We chartered out of Pointe à Pitre in Guadeloupe. The first crew wanted to go and see the Tobago Cays. After St.Lucia, and because the charter company advised us against stopping in St.Vincent, we sailed straight down to Bequia. They drive on the left, the schoolboys and girls wear uniforms, and the architecture is different to that in Guadeloupe or Martinique: there no missing the fact that we’re in a former British colony. At daybreak, we had fisherman come alongside, offering us freshly-caught langoustines, a real treat! The following day we made a stopover in Mayreau, having almost reached our destination: turquoise waters and white sand beaches bordered by coconut palms. Then we arrived in the Tobago Cays. They are a nature reserve, and we saw turtles, a ray and all kinds of multicolored fish. A few days later we were back at Pointe à Pitre as planned. Hoping to sail a little less, we set out for Marie Galante, a real little corner of France in the shape of paradise. We were wowed by the beach at La Ferrière with its white sand, where Laurent Voulzy found his inspiration for the song “Belle île en mer”. After Antigua, our cruise became a bit more sporty; in fact, our windlass began slipping. From then on we had to haul up the anchor and chain using elbow grease, by tying up two long warps which the crew helped haul in with the electric winch. Three times she had to go in the water, the first time to lift the chain of another boat which we were bringing up with our anchor, the second to cut the rope of a buoy caught round our propeller, and finally to confirm that our chain was wrapped around a coral head. We enjoyed this charter so much, we are already thinking of returning in 2018: in February, finding water at 27°C, air at 25/30°C and rum at 59°, well, if that’s not pleasure, it’s pretty damn close!
Boat: Neel 45 Trimaran
Where: West Indies, Caribbean
Who: Pierre and plenty of friends
